


Living With Betty Cooper

by believe_that_you_can_my_friend



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 10:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10534689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/believe_that_you_can_my_friend/pseuds/believe_that_you_can_my_friend
Summary: Jughead Jones, facing the reality of having nowhere to stay anymore after the Drive-In gets shut down, finds temporary shelter at the Blue & Gold office. But what happens when an upset Betty Cooper catches him on the act?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is an old story I wrote and posted on Tumblr after episode 4 had been aired so Bughead is still at the very beginning of their relationship. Hope you all enjoy!

Jughead knew the routine by now. Scrunched down and trying to make his trademark combat boots as soundless as possible, the raven haired boy cautiously popped his head from the corner he was hiding, icy blue eyes scanning the empty corridor in from of him. A quarter to nine, the great clock over the entrance of Riverdale High informed him and he slightly frowned, biting anxiously on his down lip and drumming his slender fingers on the tiled wall next to him in anticipation. Radio commercials along with the icky sound of track soles stepping on wet floor could be heard faintly inside the now lifeless school building, a tell-tale sign that his misery for the day will soon be over and Jughead could be nothing but relieved about it. He was tired and even more so _mentally_ tired, with all the small town drama and its joke of residents as well as his spiraling thoughts about his novel and the newfound reality he had to adjust to, that being his current situation of well, yeah, being homeless, plus the here and there thoughts about a certain girl next door, a girl he knew all his life and a girl he always knew belonged to his best friend, that lately seemed to invade his mind an awful more lot. Yeah, Jughead needed a place to lie down, even if that was the dusty floor of the Blue  & Gold.

The characteristic sound of the janitors’ trolley could be heard rolling down the linoleum floor and the old man came into view, Jughead letting a soundless “finally” as he watched him tuck away his gear inside the small room at the very entrance of the school, minutes before walking away and locking the large grey doors behind him with superb choices of curse words under his breath at how much he hated his life. He didn’t blame him, he hated his life too, Jughead thought as he made his way to his and Betty’s headquarters in his usual apathetic manner, unlocking the wooden door with the spare keys his blonde “coworker” had given him once he had said yes to her proposal of brining Blue & Gold to its former glory, and he let a sigh of content once the door clicked behind him. Maybe it was the fact that he spent almost his entire days in this office the last couple of weeks that made him feel so at ease being there. Or maybe it was the way her perfume still lingered in the air, all vanilla and sunshine, that brought calmness to his chaotic mind. He truly didn’t know.

He threw hastily his bag and his black denim jacket at one of the chairs and got to work, unburying the small backpack of his belongings from a rusty cupboard at the very end, along with a thin rolled up mattress – choosing that very cupboard because it was old and dirty and he knew Betty wouldn’t have any business going near it – and set his makeshift bed next to the huge wall bookcase, amongst old dusty computers and long forgotten paperwork. He sat down and rested his heavy head on the wooden drawers behind him with a sigh, his eyes focusing on the florescent light of the table lamb next to the brand new stationary Betty had brought over from her parents’ newspaper. A yellow post-it note was attached to the black metal of the lighting source and Betty’s calligraphic letters were decorating it, listing the “rules” of their so called partnership, the first one being “It’s not mandatory to always look at a computer screen, _Juggie_!”. His chapped lips cracked a small smile at that and Betty Cooper popped on his thoughts once again, bringing something on his chest, a nervous excitement as he would describe it from his author point of view, but a sinking feeling as well. Because Jughead Jones felt bad; bad that he had to be so secretive with her, especially now that they had grown closer, because, Lord forbid, if she found out. He would die of eternal humiliation. But seriously, how could anyone hold anything back when coming face to face with those blue Bambi eyes? He didn’t know that either.

Jughead groaned at the mess his life had become overnight and a palm came to rub down his face, in an attempt to vanish any thought of the bubbly blonde that seemed to fog his mind. Of course he knew better than to get tangled in something as idealistic as the mere thought of her ever thinking him as a possible option but that didn’t seem to restrict his mind from going there. And regarding how many times Betty Cooper has conquered his thoughts these last couple of days, Jughead knew he had it bad. He needed a distraction and his best one was getting lost inside his world of words but as he made a move to grab his laptop from inside his bag, the air was sucked out of his lungs by surprise and by the scent of vanilla that overwhelmed him and the atmosphere around him.

“Pop was renovating over the weekend.” An upset Betty Cooper spat like an accusation in front of him and Jughead shot up in shock to meet her height.

“Um Bet-Betty…” he tried to form words but the shot of embarrassment in his system was forming a lump on his throat. He moved in panic to try to cover any of his stuff lying around but failed, shifting on his weight like a _stupid_ deer in the headlights. God, he hated himself. “What are you doing here?” he finally dared to ask, momentarily meeting her angry stare.

“Do I look like an idiot or, I don’t know, am I that plain and naïve that nobody seems to trust me with what is happening in their lives?” the raised octave in her voice was something that Jughead found surprising and somehow really affective in making him feel like he had disappointed her.

“Betty, no! I’m…Please, let me explain!” he tried, feeling the cold sweat running down his spine.

“You were acting sketchy, Jughead!” she cut him off with the spank that he liked in her but really dreaded right now. “And unlike what some people say, no, that’s not normal for you, so yeah, I followed you and you never went at Pop’s and I’m assuming you didn’t even go all those other nights that we parted ways after working here?” she narrowed her eyes and frowned, wanting an explanation, praying that he’d better have a good excuse about all that, cause really she was sick of people treating her like an accessory in their lives.

Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Jughead spent most of his time at Pop’s and his first thought in finding work and residence was his favorite burger shop but since the newly into town Hermione Lodge had filled the last serving position and the shop did stay shut over the weekend for a ridiculous renovation – of course Jughead knew that, he just hoped Betty hadn’t heard – his dreamy plan was thrown out the window, which led him to find temporary shelter inside the Blue & Gold. He just kept this part of the truth hidden from Betty, which by the looks of it now was a bad idea.

“I was never at Pop’s.” Jughead admitted in defeat, in a small voice that Betty never heard him use before, and with his blue eyes focused solemnly on his boots.

Betty’s face fell and he felt her disappointment, even though not looking at her. “Can I ask what are you doing here? And please, I want a honest answer.” She said in all seriousness, heart heavy in her chest cause Jughead was her friend, these couple of days even growing to something more than that, something she couldn’t really pinpoint, and he had given her the impression that he was gonna treat her way better than that.

Jughead sighed; it was now or never. It was better for her to be disgusted by his joke of a life than believe that she did something wrong, that she is _not good enough_ for people to stick around. So he sucked his pride and decided to be dead honest, even if that would cost him his chance with her forever.

“You remember how pissed I was about the drive-in?” he dared to raise his eyes to look at her and saw her nod in confusion. “It wasn’t just ethical, about how everything gets demolished under the spell of the American Dream” he scoffed at that “nor was it just the fact that I lost my job.” He took a breath and exhaled with a sigh and closed eyes, trying to gather the courage because Jughead never admitted defeat or, God forbid, asked for help.  “That place was also my home. Like my actual house.” He hesitantly looked at her, her frown lines still in tack and those eyes still watery, but he could see the wheels in her mind turning, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and understand him.

“What?” she huffed in confusion. “I thought you and your dad were—”

“My dad has long gone out of the picture, Betty.” A frown appeared to his forehead now, Jughead suddenly feeling the need to examine his fingers, too scared to see the pity in her eyes. “I don’t have a place to stay.” He admitted finally with a melodramatic smirk, Betty opening and closing her mouth at a loss of words, taken aback by this revelation. “I understand that I can’t be here” Jughead sobered up and faced her, serious now “and I’m really sorry that I betrayed your trust. Here’s the key” he fished the small silver chain from the front pocket of his jeans and left it on the desk that separated them “I’ll see myself out.”

Betty watched in shock as he threw his backpack over his shoulder in a swift movement and snatched his bag and jacket, not really believing that this guy was beating himself up for things that clearly weren’t his fault. She straightened her back and shook her head at his stubborn ego; she wouldn’t let him walk away like that. Just as he was about to pass her by and get lost in the night like a tragic hero of yet another sappy novel, head dropped to the floor in embarrassment and guilt, Betty grabbed his wrist and he stilled, not facing her still but raising his eyebrows in confusion at her actions and at the pinch of electricity that small touch offered to his heart.

“Juggie…” her voice was candy cane sweet, like the Betty he always knew, and her eyes felt soft upon his profile, something that made him find some of his snarky self back. “Do you seriously believe that I’m mad at you right now?”

“You’re not?” he questioned with a tilt of his head to her side.

“Well, yes, for not telling me the moment it all happened.” She took a step back and stood her ground, releasing him before curling her arms over her chest. “Does Archie know at least?” she wandered.

Jughead just looked guiltily to the ground again and then back to her eyes.

“Oh, Juggie…” her heart broke for him and she whined his name adorably, because seriously this guy was being a martyr for no reason. “We are your friends! Why are you insisting on piling all those things inside you instead of sharing them with the people that love you?” she spoke softly and he looked at her with such intensity and awe that Betty felt a flush run to her cheeks for no reason.

“I just like getting out of my mess alone.” Jughead admitted and let a small smile, not at the statement, but because he did notice the blush and for some weird reason he found her even cuter. Gosh, this girl knew how to bring peace and havoc in equal amounts to his deranged mind.

“I know that.” Betty offered him a lopsided smirk along with an eye roll, because he did know him and his stubborn, prideful self, which made him crack a small, adorable smile and Betty thought that as an achievement. “But asking for help once in a while isn’t any sign of, I don’t know, weakness or false male ego or whatever society is piling up against you boys” she spoke in exasperation and with her usual Betty hand gestures to underline the ridicule of it all and he chuckled, he actually _chuckled_ , making her mentally pat herself on the back for succeeding to cheer him up even for a moment. “so use us and our services sometimes, please?” she let a chuckle of her own and he hesitantly nodded, feeling a lot more light and optimistic now that he had confided in her.

Her eyes left him and scanned the room, taking in the small and definitely uncomfortable mattress on the floor. “How long has this been going on?”

Jughead rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Ah, a week or so.”

Betty shook her head in disbelief. “I’m not gonna ask what happened with you dad; it’s your deal and if you don’t wanna share it with anyone, I respect that.” Jughead just nodded, grateful for this girl and her discrete manners and overall amazing personality. “But you need a place to stay.” She advised softly, almost lovably and Jughead couldn’t remember the last time he felt so cared for before.

“I know, I’m working on that.” He quickly answered. “I’m not gonna stay here, it was stupid on my part to do that and I don’t want to get you into any kind of trouble—”

Betty cut him off again. “I’m not worried about me, Juggie.” She smiled and he lost his train of thought again, because that girl was unpredictable and he was seriously digging that. “I’m worried about you here. And you can’t keep on sleeping on the floor!” she pointed the obvious and gestured at the makeshift bed on the side.

“It’s just Archie has a lot on his plate right now…”Jughead started to rant away, focusing again on his fingers cause he didn’t really like the position he was right now “and Pop… _Pop!_ Who would have guessed that Pop is turning his back at his most loyal customer not to say future author of Riverdale’s very own In Cold Blood, which I mean seriously Bets, people are going to pose for selfies at my booth in a couple of years’ time, and Pop is going to beg for me to autograph it but I’ll refuse and I’ll show him—“ he ranted on and on and Betty shook her head in amusement, because she knew what he was doing, he was trying to pretend to be aloof and funny although he was in deep ends but clearly he wasn’t fooling her.

“You’re staying with me.” She ended his word vomit in a blink, with a satisfied smile and a raised eyebrow, once seeing him choking a breath.

“As in…” he cleared his throat “as in the Coopers’ household?”

“The one and only.” Betty sing-sang.

“Bets, I thought I was your friend. Yet, you’re sending me in a suicide mission against Alice _vigilante_ Cooper.” Jughead snapped in disbelief, thinking that was the craziest thing that might have come out of Betty’s mouth all the years he knew her.

Betty laughed. “You’ll be fine. What Alice Cooper doesn’t know, she won’t hurt her.” She shrugged.

Jughead narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re going to hide me!”

“Well, I’m not going to abduct you, Juggie, you’ll just be restricted to the grounds of my bedroom and maybe sometimes you’ll have to leave the house way early in the mornings, that’s it.” She proposed and pushed her lips together in thought, trying to persuade him.

“No.”

“Juggie!”

“No! That’s _way_ out of line!” he drew the word to underline the impossible of the situation. Not only her mom was able to murder them on spot if she came into realization of what was happening in her house but also him and Betty in the same room sleeping? That was a terrible idea on a whole other level.

“Well, what do you propose?” she challenged him, knowing that eventually he had him. “Or maybe you would like to sleep on a bench and then have to explain to the sheriff and the whole town your little situation.”

He scoffed, knowing that she had a point but not willing to admit it. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Jughead, stop being stubborn!” Betty demanded. “You’re coming with me, end of story.”

He opened his mouth to say something but her raised eyebrow stopped him and instead he groaned. “Fine!” Jughead snapped grumpily and Betty squalled in delight. “But just for tonight.” He pointed a warning finger and she faked an agreeing nod, smile bright upon her shiny colored lips.

“And one last thing.” Betty spoke, taking the key he had previously abandoned on the desk before opening his palm and closing it around it. Jughead watched her curiously, his eyes focusing on her slender fingers as they brushed softly over his fist, before they were gone and he was left with that strange feeling she brought to his chest every time she was around. “I trust you, Jughead. And I believe you; don’t ever doubt that.” She smiled sweetly up at him and the air left his lungs involuntarily, Jughead catching himself thinking that there wasn’t someone quite like her in whole wide world, before he heard her say “let’s go” and led the way, him following hypnotized behind her.

Jughead Jones the Third was indeed putty for Betty Cooper.

* * *

The walk to her house was filled with idle chat and bunter, as if there was just another usual night escorting her home after leaving Blue & Gold or grabbing a bite Pop’s, as if the events of the previous hour had never occurred. But they did and Jughead was actually going to stay the night in Betty Cooper’s very own room, something that frightened him to no end, but also excited him, even if he didn’t dare to admit it.

Her parents’ car was in the driveway, meaning they weren’t that lucky, but that didn’t faze Betty at all, something that surprised Jughead. He knew she could be bold and up for a dare but not to that extend. She just directed him to stay quiet and unlocked the door slowly, checking first inside and then motioning for him to follow her. That flight up the stairs and into Betty’s room was something that Jughead strongly believed could have potentially given him a heart attack.

He remembered Betty’s bedroom. Even thought when they used to hang out as kids they went either to Archie’s house or his treehouse, he had been to her bedroom a fair amount of times to remember all the pink on the walls and the princess like decoration. Seeing it now after so many years there wasn’t much of a change, just the upgraded double bed and the plethora of posters on the wall, but other than that it was still just like in his childhood memories.

“Alright” Betty spoke softly and closed the door behind her, locking it just in case. She may have been pretending to be fearless in front of Jughead – for the sake of wanting to keep him out of trouble and worries – but still she knew her mom would actually start World War Three if she caught him, or any boy in that case, inside the room of her perfect daughter. “Make yourself at home.” She instructed with a sweet smile and went to close her blinds.

Thankfully Archie’s room was dark, meaning the boy was either sleeping or somewhere else in the house, and Jughead felt relieved at that because seriously he didn’t need a repetition of what happened tonight at school with Betty and in Archie’s case with more demanding questions. The raven haired boy shifted his weight from one leg to the other, clearly unsure of what to do, cause seriously that was the first time he was alone in a bedroom with a girl, that girl being Betty Cooper, possibly the girl he wished from time to time to be alone with, and even thought nothing remotely like _that_ was going to happen, the situation was rather nerve-racking to say the least.  So, he stood there like an awkward fool, glancing around her room and fiddling with the strap of his backpack which was still attached on his shoulder.

Once she was done, Betty turned to face him, catching a glimpse of how nervous he was being, something he was never before with anyone, licking her lips to hide her amused smile. “Well, I didn’t know you sleep standing up.” She teased him and allowed a smirk to curl her lips, Jughead offering a sarcastic ha-ha back.

“Humans are behavioral beings and need time to adjust. I’m adjusting.” He shot back and she raised her hands in fake surrender, walking around the room tucking away her text books and kicking her sneakers by the door.

Jughead walked to the spot he previously occupied, leaving his belongings under the window, kicking off his own combat boots and dropping his jacket and flannel over his backpack, standing there with a plain black t-shirt and his jeans. He buried his hands on his pockets and leaned a shoulder next to the window, watching her. He liked seeing her in her own space, being relaxed and domestic, just twirling around tiding things, fixing her school bag for the next day, emptying her bed from all the decorative pillows, snooping around her cupboards for more blankets for the both of them. Betty knew his icy eyes were on her and she didn’t mind, she kinda liked the weird flush of the skin under his gaze, and only when she sat on her vanity to get rid of her light make up, she let her eyes connect with his through the mirror, sea of blue meeting sea of blue, offering him a smile like the ones that always brought foreign trouble to his mind. And then she raised her hand and got rid of that elastic thing that got hold of her hair in her preppy trademark ponytail, letting a stream of golden locks fall loose over her shoulders, and Jughead was sold, gone out of his freaking mind, as he watched her sway them from side to side to relieve the tension on her sculp. If he thought she looked beautiful in a ponytail, then now she was certainly a vision to look at.

Jughead didn’t even notice her standing up and snooping through her drawers, until she was facing him again, swaying some kind of garment from one hand to the other.

“Um, I need to change into my pajamas sooo…” Betty trailed off and blushed adorably, motioning for him to turn away, feeling a tingling feeling low on her stomach cause she was alone with Jughead in her room, and he wasn’t Kevin, he was Jughead _pretty-hot_ Jones, but she wasn’t Veronica, mysterious and confident and experienced in the boys field, so yeah her nerves where on the code red side at that very moment.

“Oh, yeah, right, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll just turn around, sorry, yeah…”Jughead stuttered awkwardly, clumsily turning around with full force and knocking his knee on the wooden end of her bed with a thud, Betty biting her lip not to burst out laughing and him mentally cursing himself and flinching at how much of a fool he made himself once turning to face the window. He could hear pieces of clothing being taken off and he brought a palm to rub at his forehead, feeling suddenly the air of the room getting hotter by the minute at the mental images the teeny-tiny sounds were forming in his way too creative mind. He forced himself to think about something else, anything to tame his stupid teenage hormonal outrage, and he started reciting Macbeth in his mind, which surprising took his mind a little off things.

“All set.” He heard the two little magic words and sighed in relief, turning hesitantly around, but that didn’t help with the situation, since there she was in a white t-shirt and a pair of grey cotton shorts, her long legs as if they were going for miles. Jughead cleared his throat and dropped his head to the ground, ashamed about his thoughts, making Betty fidget with the hem of her shirt, feeling suddenly insecure.

 “Um, I should actually get started on my bedspread.” Jughead awkwardly joked, leaning down to retrieve the thin mattress from his backpack, wanting to ease the situation and his nerves.

“What are you doing?” Betty raised her face to look at him, making him halt his movements.

“Getting ready to fall into bed like you suggested?” he titled his head in confusion.

“Well, yeah, you said it yourself; _bed_. That hardly seems like a bed to me.” She said matter-of-factly, her eyes going between him and the double bed on the center of the room.

“You’re kidding right?” he said, deadpanned.

“What? Am I that repulsive to even lie next to?” Betty scoffed with a shake of her head, curling her arms over her chest in defeat.

“What? No!” Jughead huffed, not believing that she actually said that, or worst, believed that for herself. “It’s just…”he fought to find the right words “ _not right_.” Amazing choice of words, Jughead, really.

“Well, we have slept together before numerous times.” the blonde pointed out cleverly.

“Yes! Up until we were eight!” he shot back in exasperation. “We’ve…changed since then.” He struggled to get his point across; he really didn’t want to feel more tortured than he already was and a night spent on a bed next to Betty would certainly do the trick. They weren’t kids anymore. And even though those – _maybe_ – feelings he had for Betty existed back then too, they were nothing but platonic, as all elementary crushes are, as opposed to now that he dreaded to even take a second look of those gorgeous legs in front of him.

“Yeah, we did.” Betty agreed softly, in barely a whisper, and he could see she was as disappointed and confused as he was, so she let the subject go. “I’m just saying that it’s a pity for me to have such spare room and you to be sleeping on the floor. It’s not even polite.” She shrugged and passed him a thick blanket and a fluffy lavender pillow, giving him a pointed look under her eyelashes that had him restraining himself with difficulty.

“Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.” Jughead finally assured her with an adorable smile, brushing lightly his thump over her hand as he accepted the linens, earning a small smile in return.

They got settled into their own beds and Betty turned off her bedside lamp, leaving only the moonlight and some faint fairy lights over her bookcase illuminating the room. Both of them facing the ceiling and getting lost in their thoughts, they enjoyed the blissful silence of the night and the presence of each other, thinking about their lives and how they had changed over only one summer.

“Bets, you’re sleeping?” Jughead’s almost whisper broke into the silence of the room, Betty grimacing a small smile at the ceiling.

“Nah…”she whispered - sighed.

“The thing with my dad…” he started and Betty’s brows frowned at that, the girl titling her head slightly to her side over her pillow. “It’s not something I’m proud of, ok?” he sighed and blinked in the dark to arrange his thoughts. “I know people don’t expect much from me, I mean how could they I’m just an outsider stuck in fantasy worlds and a computer screen, my father is all I’m ever going to be and I love him, I do, but…”he licked his lips trying to find the right words but Betty bet him to it.

“But that’s not who you really are.” She concluded his thoughts perfectly, like she was reading his mind and Jughead nodded into the dark, even though she couldn’t see him. He heard her moving over the bed and he saw her slid at the edge of her bed and turn on her side to fully face him, where he was lying on the floor.

“Are you really telling me that with my mom being Alice Cooper and having Polly Cooper as my sister, _you_ have it bad?” Betty joked with no humor in her voice and Jughead turned up to look at her. “If anything, crazy runs in my family, Juggie. That’s what people expect me to be. But I’m not predictable, I refuse to be. And neither are you.” She spoke with so much certainty, with eyes that shined against the moonlight, and in that moment Jughead felt he could do anything just because she said so, just because she believed in him.

“You have galaxies inside your mind, Jughead Jones the Third.” Betty said with an adorable frown, feeling so angry and frustrated that people like Reggie or Chuck or other unmannered jerks were making someone like Jughead feel lesser or not worthy enough, someone that was actually way more worthy than all of them combined, and not only in her eyes. “Stop letting people tell you, you cannot shine.” She smiled in the dark and he did too, feeling something unique in his chest since nobody ever believed in him as much as this girl right in front of him. Her hand came to caress lightly his cheek and Jughead stopped breathing for a moment but eventually relaxed, Betty’s thump brushing lightly over the fading dimple his awestruck smirk created.

“You really are turning into some author, Betty Cooper.” He whispered with an adorable smirk, his eyes locked with hers, thinking that anyone who passed by the fact of how amazing she was could only be a fool.

“I’m really glad you of all people say that.” Betty gave him a content smile, a bright genuine one, and retrieved her hand, much to his dislike. She just rested it under her pillow and sighed, closing her eyes. “I get that you want to find a solution on your own but I don’t want you wandering around until you do. Please stay here.”

Jughead sighed, watching her slowly drift to dreamland. “I don’t think I can walk away now.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five snapshots of Jughead’s and Betty’s life when Jughead had nowhere to stay and Betty was hiding him in her room.

Two days had passed since the night Betty Cooper had stormed inside the Blue & Gold office like a wild force of nature, catching Jughead on the act as well as learning about his secret of not having a place of his own anymore, and coexisting under the same roof was going smoothly for the two friends. Every morning they would wake up way earlier than most people in their town, and especially than Betty’s parents, and Jughead, although not being a morning person, would sneak out with a grateful smile plastered on his lips and hands full with every new snack Betty seemed to always prepare for him, and every night she would sneak him back in once she knew her parents were retired to their bedroom for the night. Their system seemed to be flawless.

Today was a low-key Wednesday night and the first time they had the house entirely to themselves, since the Coopers had yet another late night at the newspaper, the two teens finally enjoying some peace and quiet without closed doors and hush whispers. Betty was sprawled over the bed, text books and colorful markers all around her as the blonde girl was trying to finish her homework, elbow holding herself up and chin resting on her palm, head aching over an answer sheet and calves crossing and uncrossing behind her. Jughead was over the window with blinds shut – he had made Betty promise that his secret would stay between them – sitting comfortably on her white desk chair and having his long legs crossed at the ankles, outstretched against the wooden window frame, while typing furiously on his laptop that rested on his lap. Since no one was at home he didn’t have to lurk at his usual booth at Pop’s. Plus, he found Betty’s presence a very good remedy for writer’s block.

“What are your thoughts on artificial intelligence?” Betty wandered out loud, disturbing the casual silence, with eyes still glued on the paper in front of her.

Jughead’s running fingers came to a momentary halt and he blinked a couple of times to adjust his mind around her question. Not being fazed at all and going on with his typing, he answered. “I mean machines that probably are cleverer than half, if not the entire, human population? How will this affect humanity in the long run?” he voiced his opinion, his computer screen illuminating his frown.

“So I’m against it…” Betty muttered, putting the pencil she was holding in use.

“I’d use skeptical. _Against_ is a very strong statement.” He offered back, rewriting an introductory sentence about Cheryl’s and Jason’s odd sibling bond.

“Hm.” She titled her head in thought and tapped the edge of her pencil a couple of times over the floral notebook next to her, while going over the sentence she just wrote. “Skeptical it is then.” The girl concluded and erased any sign of lead under that question with the back of her pencil. “Which chapter are you on?” she asked him, as she was conducting a small paragraph about her so called opinion.

“Just started six. Had inspiration these days.” Jughead let her know subtly.

“Cool.” Betty nodded to herself, moving to the next question. “Which changes society has to undertake in order to adjust to this new, robotic filled reality?” she went on to read out loud.

Without even stopping to breathe, he answered quickly. “Reforms of the civil law so to include robotic machines.”

Betty scribed that down quickly, her lips forming a reverse smile in genuine awe; she would have never thought of that.  “How is people’s approach to the subject? Are there any examples from literature and/or theater, cinema etc. that approach it?”

“Easy.” Jughead scoffed, so done with the lack of originality in teachers’ quizzes. “Terminator was pictured as fearful, Robocop was designed as a sign of hope; it seems that there is only black and white in people’s mind, not in between. As for how ethical this whole ‘humans playing God and creating super-creatures’ is? Well, Arthur Clarke shared that concern in Space Odyssey years ago but still there isn’t a satisfactory answer.” He concluded and Betty’s lips let a huff of admiration, struggling to keep up with his fast pace while quoting him on paper.

Satisfied, she looked at her finished science paper and grabbed her neon yellow folder to put it neatly inside.

“Am I done doing _your_ homework?” came Jughead’s sarcastic comment, Betty rolling her eyes amused behind his back.

“Yes. And thank you.” She replied in a teasing tone.

“And anyway in what world is Betty Cooper unable to fill in some simple, let alone piece of cake for her, questions?” he went on, briefly taking his tired  eyes off the computer screen to look at her over his shoulder.

“I was bored and wanted to be done with it.” She flinched adorably, throwing her books recklessly to the floor and falling back to lie on her duvet.

“So you just used me?” Jughead turned his torso more to face her, narrowing his eyes in fake offence, their color shining with mischief.

Betty let a melodic laugh that put a smirk on his lips. “Pretty much, yeah.” She admitted with another round of laughter, once she saw him pretend to curse under his breath in fake self-pity, before she was left there just smiling, taking him all in with her doe eyes and taking a weird liking at the way he looked in a plain black t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, one of the rarest times seeing him this homey and casual.

“It’s just that with everything that happened, Jason’s funeral, Archie, Ms. Grundy, my mom… my mind can’t really focus on homework, you know?” her eyes took their usual melancholic shade once again and she turned her stare away, feeling the need to pick on some loose threats of her jeans but knowing his eyes were hot and heavy on her profile.

“You have one mind and that is a crowd of people to think of.” Jughead sighed, wanting to ease some of her heartbreak, if possible. “Do you wanna talk about it?” he hesitantly asked.

Betty exhaled the rather large breath she was holding. “No, it doesn’t matter.” She turned to face him again, smile in tack. “It truly doesn’t.” she insisted with a vigorous shake of her head and smiled more, once seeing him unconvinced. “Everything’s in the past and I am really ready to move on.” She announced cheerfully, raising her slim, jean clad, legs to rest on the white headboard of her bed, sliding her arms over her head and stretching blissfully, like a cat enjoying the warm sunrays of June.

And even if he didn’t entirely believe her, Jughead knew there was a rich dose of truth in her words; she eventually was going to be perfectly ok. So he smiled that adorable boyish smile he always had reserved for her and her only, not really able to restrain himself when she was being that cute, with bright pink toe nails drumming against her floral wall.

“What’s so funny?” her voice made him avert his eyes from her legs and run them up to her body until they reached her face, silly smile on his and her lips.

“You.” He let with a chuckle and a shake of his head, putting his laptop as a shield in front of his face. He didn’t know why he was acting like a nervous spaz around her and he hated it with all his passion.

“I’m glad that you find me ridiculous.” She teased and took her tongue out at him, Jughead sending her an amused – slash flirty, but he wouldn’t dare admit that to himself – glare under his eyelashes over his laptop. “Honestly, those two days are probably the most I’ve seen you smiling all those years that we know each other.” Betty smirked, feeling a small flattering on her chest every time she saw the corners of his lips tug into even the smallest of grins.

Jughead knew that and he had a very good theory as to why this was happening but he wouldn’t say that out loud, and especially to her. So, he just smirked and started his typing again, offering one of his usual sardonic responses. “Oh, you know me, big fan of morbid murder scenes and intense people drama, which we have plenty nowadays.” He frowned teasingly and titled his head up to look at her, Betty’s eye roll in sync with her rolling off her bed.

“Ha-ha.” She let a dry laugh and got rid of her dusty pink cardigan, the loose silk white camisole she wore underneath complimenting nicely her shoulders and collarbones which didn’t go unnoticed by him. “I’m gonna make some snacks. I’m assuming you in?” she announced walking to the door.

“Please and thank you.” Jughead replied with a delightful groan, cause really at this point he was just a sucker for anything this girl made, and she laughed before disappearing down the hallway. Her cheerful hopes down the stairs and light humming of a foreign tune made Jughead smile against the letters of the document in front of him and he went on with his previous task. Living with Betty Cooper wasn’t so bad after all.

* * *

“Shh! We’re gonna get busted!” Betty whisper – shouted, with her hushed voice trembling from laughter as her finger came over her lips to signalize what she was saying.

“I can’t believe you vomited on your dad’s lap during family Christmas lunch!” Jughead was holding his stomach laughing his heart out at the picture but trying to be as quiet as possible, a five feet ten, all limbs, dark guy rolled up in two shaking from silent giggles like a cheerful toddler. “I’m not even mentioning the you being drunk part; that is a thing I deeply regret missing in my life.” A new series of laughter hit him with more force and a throaty chuckle escaped his lips, Betty’s eyes widening in fear and the blonde grabbed one of the numerous pillows from behind her head and smothered him with it, feeling the vibrations of his chuckles against her palms making her not able to hold back her giggles too at that unusual sight of him.

It was Friday night, way over midnight but they didn’t even bother with time, and the two of them were lying casually on Betty’s bed playing a game of twenty questions. It was all normal at first, with Jughead’s favorite girl sneaking him in her house once her parents were asleep and them starting their usual chat about their day which usually led to deep conversations until one of them was soundly asleep. Tonight, though, it seemed that both of them were in an awfully good mood.

“It was my first time drinking something even remotely close to alcohol and, seriously, how can you laugh at my misery? My grandma was _appalled_! And of course I don’t need to mention my mom’s reaction, you’ve met her.” Betty fell back into her pillows and focused her eyes on the ceiling, the events of last year’s Christmas day still vivid in her mind. “Kevin _really_ owes me for this.” She promised in fake threat.

Jughead let a series of small coughs, unburying his face from under the pillow that smelled like her and focusing on the ceiling too, amused smile still on his lips. “Thank you, Bets, really. That was the best thing you’ve ever told me.” He coughed again and fixed his hair, or rather messed his raven locks more, and Betty turned to reply with a mean comeback but failed. It was one of the rarest times she was seeing him without his trademark beanie – in fact that was actually the first cause every other night he would take it off after each had been settled into their “beds” – and she had to admit he looked smocking without it too, if not more so.

“Ask away, I’ll handle it.” He scoffed amused, knowing it was her turn to fire a question, feeling her gaze on him in the dimly lit room before turning left over his pillow and coming face to face with her. He had left a safe distance between the two of them – mostly for his sake and his mental stability – but even that wasn’t enough to restrain him from getting lost into the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he had seen in his life.

Betty bit her lip – mostly because she wasn’t expecting his stare to be so intense over her – but asked anyway. “Why do you always wear that beanie?”

He lied; he couldn’t handle it. In the sea of questions she could have asked, the girl responsible for some of his recent sleepless nights went and asked this one. Jughead took a deep breath and focused his eyes on the pillow that now had fallen between them. Of course he would answer; he had learnt that keeping secrets from Betty was a rather difficult task, let alone lying.

“My mom had sewed that for me when I was five.” Jughead confessed and felt a lump forming in his throat but pushed it away, before putting a brave face and facing her again.

She just smiled sweetly at him, knowing that whatever happened with his parents was still really hard on him and hating herself for not noticing sooner. “Well, it does really suit you.” She nodded with a girly pout and ruffled his mop of hair lightly, Jughead bucking down from her touch and groaning a chuckle, grateful that she understood him and knew when to change the subject. “Your turn.” She instructed, rolling over to rest on her elbows, closing the distance between them by an inch.

“Well, well…” he sighed in thought “Okay, what are the things about me that you particularly like and what is the one thing you don’t like?” Jughead went kind of bold there but it was only fair after a question like that. Plus, her laugh as an answer to his challenging smirk was a delight to his ears.

“One? Only one? That’s an understatement there, my friend.” Betty started teasing him and he smacked her head lightly with the pillow, making her squeal and fire back a punch on his shoulder, Jughead delivering another pillow smack on her back before she knocked him off with a rather strong hit of her elbow against his ribs that made him leave a groan of pain, all while they were lowly giggling like happy fools.

“So I don’t like how stubborn you are and you have an ego as big as your head and you don’t ask for help and you’re secretive, awfully prideful, messy as hell—” Jughead let an offended ‘hey’ at that but Betty ignored him and continued listing things with the help of her fingers “you can drive anyone and especially me to the wall, you lose track of time—”

Jughead put his palm over her mouth to stop her, feeling her plump lips against his skin for the first time and indeed losing track of time and place at that very moment. “Do you even like me at all?” he used sarcasm as his chronic defense and with great difficulty removed his hand from her lips, leaving them parted and weirdly begging for more.

Betty collected herself quickly – Juggie was her friend, she shouldn’t even go there – and found her easy going, teasing self again, the one she always had around him. “Sometimes yeah.” She nodded with sass and he shook his head in amusement, rolling his eyes at how much spank she had in her and at how much he came to like that.

“In all honesty, though” she paused and adjusted herself on the bed, elbow resting on her pillow and head titling to rest on her palm, her golden locks falling over one side making Jughead fight back the urge to play with them “you are a pretty amazing person. And I’m really glad that I get to learn more about you every day.” She smiled genuinely at him and he did too, nodding once before resting a palm behind his head and turning his happy eyes to the ceiling, thinking that he definitely had it bad for the first time in his life.

“Sooo as a well-deserved payback for that…” Betty started and Jughead internally groaned “tell me, Jughead Jones the Third, who was your first kiss.” She gave him a challenging smirk, feeling a light blush starting to form on her cheeks but she wasn’t going to back out, she was curious to know – or that’s what she told herself – and she saw him closing his eyes and huff in exasperation, Betty taking pride at the fact that she was one of the very few people that brought Jughead out of his comfort zone. “And no” she continued in warning “I don’t mean silly kids’ stuff, I mean like a proper kiss.”

“Betty…” he whined through his teeth, eyes still closed and frown lines between his eyebrows deep, really not wanting to share something like that with her, first of all because it was embarrassing and second, well, it was _really_ embarrassing.

“Are you blushing?” she squealed in surprise and full on fluffiness and it was indeed very true, Jughead could feel his skin starting to burn from the back of his neck slowly all the way to his cheeks. “Come on, it can’t be that bad!” she encouraged him with a light shake of his shoulder.

“It was awful.” He groaned like he was in pain and she shrieked a laugh, immediately a hand flying to her lips to cover the sound. “Okay, I need full disclosure here and you’re not allowed to laugh.” He pointed a warning finger in all seriousness and Betty smacked her lips shut, nodding and taking a breath to calm herself.

“Well, it wasn’t really my initiative, I was caught off guard…” Jughead flinched, remembering the dreadful event two summers ago that scared him for life.

“Wait, did somebody actually jump on you?” Betty’s voice went an octave higher in shock and amusement and full curiosity to learn more and he hesitated by nodded. “Shut up! _Who_ was it?!” she begged for more, drumming her palms on his arm in anticipation.

“You’re taking this to the grave.” Jughead warned her once more, and she huffed at how ridiculous he was being. “It was… Ethel.” He chocked in a breath and flinched again, even more now.

“WHAT?! NOO!” Betty fell back against her pillow, a hand coming to cover her lips that opened in shock, feeling amused mostly but a part of her a tad _jealous?_

“It was awful” he repeated again and closed his eyes to shake away the images “face first, _way_ too much tongue…” he made an expression of vomiting and Betty brought her duvet to her lips to muffle her now hysterical laughter at his face expressions. “I remember I stood there like a statue and when it was over I ran so fast, I arrived home with asthma!” he ended the story with a scoff, feeling second hand embarrassment for his younger self and wishing to somehow erase that entire day from his memories, the day he vowed not to kiss a girl ever again.

“Wow!” Betty lay there stunned, resting a palm on her chest and feeling her raging breath calming down. “That is some first kiss story.” She admitted teasingly.

“Oh please, I die of embarrassment every time I think of it.” Jughead scoffed, narrowing his icy eyes to the ceiling. “Thank God, she never mentioned it or tried anything like that again.” His eyes widened in fear.

“Well, on the bright side, not many guys seem to cause such reactions.” Betty offered half-teasingly, half-true because really she could picture girls going crazy at the sight of him. His bad boy, Judd Nelson vibe really did something to the female population, she thought, or maybe it was just her.

“Not helping.” Jughead replied sarcastically, turning to face her. “And since we are at it” his face suddenly lightened up, his self-pity long forgotten “how about you miss Cooper?”

“Oh no, no, no!” she refused with a vigorous shake of her head. “You don’t get to do that!”

“Says who? There are no such rules!” Jughead objected with a teasing smirk of his own. “Come on then what about your first kiss?” he didn’t really want to make her feel uncomfortable nor did he want to know all the gory details about how dreamy it was and how Archie was an amazing kisser – because seriously the two of them had been best friends since forever, he had to be her first kiss – but he was masochistically curious about it to say the truth.

“Well, my very first kiss—” Betty started and tried to bluff but he cut her off.

“You said so yourself, no silly kids’ stuff. Plus, I know.” He raised an eyebrow.

“You do?” she asked surprised; even she, herself, hardly remembered her first barely kiss.

“Reggie. Fourth grade. It was Archie’s birthday party at Pop’s and you were eating a sundae. He smacked his lips at yours and you spit a very generous mouthful of vanilla ice cream to his face.” Jughead told the story with a pleased smile and Betty’s lips fell open in surprise at how he still remembered all that. “Honestly, that was the highlight of that day.” And that was true because as heartbroken as ten year old Jughead felt seeing another boy, that boy being Reggie, kissing his crush, he felt the happiest kid alive upon seeing her reaction before skipping happily to him and Archie. “Now, I was very sharing with you. Plus, it can’t be worse than mine!”

“Fine!” Betty snapped in annoyance; she should have known that this was going to have a boomerang effect on her. “You’re taking this to the grave.” She repeated his words and Jughead rolled his eyes.

“Is it Sherriff Keller?” he boldly asked with his usual creepy - interrogating expression.

“What!? Ewww!” the blonde made a face of disgust, pushing him away by his shoulder.

He laughed. “I’m just messing with you.” He admitted and sent her a “spill” glare.

She rolled her eyes, annoyed. “It was Veronica.” She shrugged, not looking at him.

Jughead opened his mouth to say the answer he had already prepared but last minute his mind caught up with her words and registered that she indeed had said something entirely else than he thought she would say, making him close his mouth abruptly, open it again and close it again at a loss of words.

“Veronica? As in Veronica Lodge?” the words burst out of his mouth, the boy not actually believing his ears. “Veronica got here a couple of months ago and, like, she is a girl?” well, generally Jughead prided in him being a very open-minded person and, he truly was, but Betty Cooper kissing a girl was a little hard to grasp.

“Both statements are true.” Betty replied matter-of-factly, hesitantly raising her eyes to look at him, waiting for his reaction.

“Are you trying to tell me something, Bets?” Jughead narrowed his baby blues at her and titled his head lightly to the side, feeling his stomach drop a little in disappointment if that meant what he thought it meant. Whatever makes her happy, he truthfully thought at the end.

Betty flinched at the misunderstanding. “No! I didn’t mean it like that; I’m just saying what happened!”

“Wow!” it was his turn now to turn flabbergasted. “If I ask how it was, would it be total douche behavior?” he did really wanna know… for science, of course.

The girl next to him laughed. “It was not bad; Veronica certainly has moves.” She admitted with an appreciative nod, Jughead staring with his lips slightly parted as his mind was working around the new information. He truly would not be able to see B and V together with the same eyes ever again.

“Wow…” he muttered again under his breath.

Betty smacked his chest with the back of her palm. “Stop imagining it.” She laughed and he opened his mouth to say something but she bet him to it. “And no, you’re not allowed to include this in your novel.” He pouted and she grinned, shaking her head at his unexpected behavior.

His chuckle was interrupted by a yawn. “I think we humiliated ourselves enough for a night.”

Betty smiled at how adorable he was, trying to keep his eyes open but failing as they got heavier and heavier, the boy blinking a few times to fight his fatigue away but clearly it was a losing battle. “Yeah…Good night, Juggie.” She whispered but she wasn’t sure if he actually heard her, Betty moving as smoothly as possible to grab his blanket from the floor and cover them both, since they were lying over her floral duvet. She adjusted her pillow more under her head and sneaked her hands between her curly hair and her lavender pillowcase, taking a minute or two to stare at him through the darkness, all relaxed and without any of his usual walls around him as a shield from human interaction, just simple Jughead, clutching a pillow to his chest and letting even, soft breaths through his adorably parted lips.

And Betty felt a tugging at her chest, a tugging she had previously experienced a couple of times upon seeing Archie in the past, but that wasn’t the case with Jughead, it couldn’t be, she made herself believe so to not spend a sleepless night stirring and turning. The boy next to her moved subconsciously further down and closer to her, his head falling left so he was inches away from her face, and there was that smile again on her lips, that _silly_ smile, as Betty moved a finger to brush away the deranged black waves that fell against his eyes before running it lightly over his jawline and making him hum in his sleep. Betty Cooper might indeed have had a sleepless night after all.

* * *

“Gotcha!” a cheerful Betty Cooper popped her head from the threshold of the kitchen, causing Jughead to do a sudden one-eighty, an almost empty bowl of food resting on his hand, fork in the air and hints of spaghetti spilling out of his mouth as his eyes were rounded in shock that he got caught.

“Juggie!” she scoffed a laugh. “You already had two overloaded plates of pasta carbonara and you’re still going? I thought you only did that with burgers at Pop’s.” she came in the room, resting a hip against the counter in front of him. “Plus, that was my dinner!”

The tall boy shrugged adorably, forming a sheepish smirk with his full mouth. “I guess I’m sorry?” he finally swallowed and Betty rolled her eyes. “And even though I could eat burgers for the rest of my life, no, my appetite includes any form of fine cuisine.” Or any of what the blonde girl next door prepared with her magic hands.

“It’s fine.” She waved a hand to brush it off, opening the fridge to peak through its contents. “I didn’t want it anyway; I’ll have a salad or something. Don’t want Cheryl over my head going on and on every day about how much of a size zero I’m not.” The girl used one of her signature grimaces, being fed up with the captain of the River Vixens but bottom line falling into the trap of embracing society’s standards about cheerleaders and girls in general, something that she felt guilty about.

Jughead’s eyebrows rose in disbelief at how much of a bitch Cheryl Blossom could actually be, saying those things about anyone and especially Betty who was stunning and totally model-material regarding her looks and body type in his humble opinion. “Screw that evil ginger!” he scoffed in his usual apathetic manner and slouched back on the counter. “You know what they say about gingers having no soul? Well, Cheryl _bombshell_ is the epitome of that statement.” He went on in his clever tone and Betty couldn’t help but laugh.

“Uh, I might agree with you on that.” She offered her aloof response, closing the metallic door of the fridge with her hip. “So, what I came here for in the first place, I’m doing laundry. I gathered some of your shirts too but I don’t know if there’s something else you wanna throw in.” She exited the room and Jughead followed close behind her, down the narrow corridor next to the staircase and into the laundry room at the very back.

“You shouldn’t have, I’m fine.” He spoke somehow uneasily, not really used to that much of attention or being taken care of.

“There’s this thing called laundry machine and it actually does wash clothes by itself so don’t feel so entitled to return your gratitude to me.” Betty teased him and he snorted a laugh, doing that adorable nose flick that the girl across him came to love. “Take off that too.” She pointed to his jeans and busied herself with pulling out some detergents off a cupboard to her left, Jughead’s eyes growing wide in an instant. _Did she actually want him to strip for her?_

Betty’s ponytail swayed as she snapped her head to face him again, doe eyes looking clueless and way too innocent for her to mean something like that. “The shirt you have around your waist, Juggie.” he heard the words and his hands fisted the red flannel that fell on his sides, eyes blinking a couple of times to help his mind return to its previous zen state. “I’m washing colors; I should put this in too.”

“Yeah, uh, okay.” He quickly unfastened it and gave it to her, his palms sweaty from his short lived – thankfully – moment of awkwardness.

“Jug, there’re two buttons missing from this.” Betty’s candy cane voice turned even more sugary, finding kinda adorable his goofiness and the ‘so what?’ eyebrow he raised at her statement. She just shook her head and let a girly giggle. “Hold on, I’m going to fix this.” She disappeared off somewhere not before instructing him to unload the plastic basket next to his feet inside the washing machine.

He did so, of course, grabbing the basket by its handles in fear of coming into contact with any of Betty’s clothes or, worse, any of her underwear and throwing all the garments inside, thinking that if a couple of months ago somebody had told him that he would be living with Betty Cooper and doing laundry with her, he would seriously have considered him a lunatic. He went to leave the basket to its previous place on the floor but something red on top of his brown boots caught his attention and bended his knees to grab it. A totally bad idea considering that he regretted it the minute he understood what it was, because there he was Jughead Jones holding a red bra – a burgundy _very lacey_ and _very see-though_ bralet to be exact, not that Jughead knew any of the difference – that belonged to no other than the infamous blonde who even without her presence and her perfume could turn his mind into a worthless piece of musk.

Ever since that Friday night he accidentally had fallen asleep at the blonde’s side, Betty refused to let him get back to sleeping on the floor which led to them sharing a bed every night and having Jughead deal with, up to now, foreign for him mind and _body_ reactions. Something that was happening at that very moment too, the boy literally feeling his raging blush coloring all of his face at the sight of the lace that was tangled around his slender fingers. He felt surprised, that Betty Cooper actually owned something like that, and possibly, _maybe_ – honestly, he didn’t even know, he had never ever felt that before with anyone – a little turned on at the thought of seeing her with that thing on. Although it might have been a pain putting it on and taking it off, Jughead briefly thought, examining the almost invisible little clasps at the back in a typical clueless boyish fashion. _God, stop thinking about taking things off!_

But bottom line he was feeling so beyond ashamed that he suddenly had such thoughts for her, her that he knew all his life and she was such a precious sweetheart, or even worse, that he couldn’t seem to be able to take his eyes nor his hands from that red lace. Something had awakened in him, something he never knew he would experience as a person, as a man, but only from his author point of view and that scared the hell out of him.

“Jug…” Betty’s voice came and he jumped, hands trembling and letting the tiny garment fall down again, now even more ashamed that the person that made him feel so many new things was surely going to be disgusted by him and his primal tendencies. He wasn’t the definition of a gentleman but he prided to be way more mannered and thoughtful regarding women.

“I’m sorry” he started stuttering, bending down in reflex to gather the tiny undergarment and his dignity, Betty doing the same once watching with wide, ashamed eyes what was all about “I didn’t mean to pry on your—ouch!” their foreheads collided with a thud, Jughead’s head bouncing back with a flinch of pain and frustration at how much more of a fool he could make himself to be.

“It’s fine, don’t sweat it, it’s fine.” She kept on muttering like a rehearsed mantra under her breath, rubbing the spot on her forehead that certainly was starting to redden from the hit only to match the bright red blush that decorated her cheeks. She hadn’t put anything remotely private of hers in that basket on purpose, for exactly that reason, for not risking Jughead seeing anything he wasn’t supposed to see and her dying of utter humiliation right on the spot, because she wasn’t that attractive or _sexy_ for that matter and she didn’t want to see another boy that she had _maybe_ starting to like reject her again.  So she hid the damn thing inside the back pocket of her jeans and closed her arms insecurely around herself, not daring to look him in the eyes.

Jughead licked his lips to find the right words, upon seeing how defensive she got. “I wasn’t snooping through your stuff. It just dropped off the pile of clothes and I picked it up, I’m sorry, please don’t think anything bad about it.” He pleaded with sad blue eyes and Betty dropped hers to the ground, replying with a small voice.

“I’m not thinking anything of you…” she admitted truthfully, kicking the machine that separated them lightly with her heel of her converse just out of spite. “I’m just embarrassed that you saw… _that_.” Her grimace and full on doe eyes, had him smiling at how adorably cute she was.

“Well, my experience with girls might be limited to none but I’m not a Neanderthal, I do know that all of you wear such stuff.” Jughead used his self-sarcasm to make the situation lighter and cheer her up. “Plus I could have found something worse like pink razors or, God Forbid, tampons, just everyday things that gross out any macho guy that respects himself and his unsuppressed masculinity, right?” he went on in his typical sardonic manner, Betty cracking a smile and shaking her head at how actually amazing he was.

“Get out of here, you dork, and let me do laundry.” She pushed him out of the way, lovey-dovey smile intact while messing with some buttons on the washing machine panel.

“Yes, traditional gender roles!” Jughead threw his head back and groaned in fake delight before straightening up his back. “And like the man I am I’m gonna go out and hunt our food.” He announced like a bad caricature of a caveman.

“Are you really?” Betty played on amused, raising an eyebrow.

Jughead slouched back to his normal posture, resting an arm against the wooden threshold. “No, not really.” Betty chuckled loudly at his beaten expression. “But I’m going to buy you the most delicious, extra filled burger that I’ll find at Pop’s along with those Texas bacon cheese fries you like.” He said with a sweet smile that Betty returned biting her down lip because she was scared her face would break with how much she was smiling right now.

“And a milkshake?” she asked shyly with her look under her eyelashes that had him sold.

“And a milkshake.” Jughead nodded once, being at her service. “Vanilla as always?”

“Nah…” Betty shook her head and said in a sweet, almost flirty voice. “I’m up for some strawberry right now.”

Jughead smirked and winked, leaving Betty behind to deal with a slightly big problem of butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

“Alright, I’m taking a shower.” Betty announced from her vanity and Jughead nodded to nobody else but himself as he was scrolling through his phone, back resting on the headboard of her bed. It was Tuesday morning and the two teens were once again alone in the house, Betty’s parents leaving in the middle of the night for the newspaper since some shockingly news about Jason Blossom’s case had sprung to life.

The blonde damsel of Jughead’s stories moved quietly around the room gathering her stuff before she made her way to the bathroom and he finally made the decision to get out of bed and start getting ready for another specifically long day at Riverdale High, filled with gossip and hushed whispers. The atmosphere would be a tad heavy today, the larky boy thought, just like it was in this room since they had woken up, an air of awkwardness and teenage angst lingering between the otherwise drama-free duo.

Because today Jughead and Betty didn’t wake up like they always used to; wrapped in each of their covers and to their respective sides. They woke up all wrapped up _with_ each other and in a tangled up mess of limbs, not knowing where he ended and where she began.

The blipping of his alarm along with the simple chime of her phone receiving a text, that being her mom informing her about hers and her dad’s whereabouts, were what brought the two friends away from dreamland two hours ago, both groggily cracking their eyes open and freaking out internally at the state they were in. Jughead was lying on his back with both his arms around Betty, slender fingers laced together on her waist over the cotton material of her grey t-shirt and Betty was practically on top of him, head resting on his chest, an arm being thrown over his stomach and fingers even lingering on the small patch of bare flesh on his hipbone that his rolled up t-shirt left uncovered, not to mention one of her miles long legs that was comfortably rested between his bony ones, delicious hitched over a part of him that Jughead didn’t quite know functioned before those days spent with her.

Their reaction was straight out of a comic book, both flying far back to either side of the bed and blushing scarlet without knowing what to do or say since they’d never been in a situation like this before. They behaved _really maturely_ about it and decided not to exchange a single word all morning, their only communication being Betty informing him that her parents were gone and that she was going to take a shower just minutes ago, both ashamed to even look each other in the eye anymore, like if they did, a ticking grenade was going to explode between them.

Jughead sighed and kicked the covers off his legs, momentarily focusing on the space between them where Betty’s smooth leg was lying for God knows how many hours, the boy mentally slapping himself for envisioning again and again their up close and personal morning. He got out of bed grumpily and run a hand through his untamed waves, deciding that it was time to stop brooding over it, they just cuddled, it was nothing and obviously it meant nothing to her so end of story, everything was cool.

Seeing as Betty was going to take a couple more minutes in the shower, Jughead decided that it was high time he got dressed for the day, quickly taking off his t-shirt and getting rid of his sweatpants, after making sure the blinds were intact and Archie wasn’t getting a private show, but the abruptly crack of the door had him once again deep in humiliation for the second time this morning. Someone up there must have had great fun torturing him.

“My mom is here!” Betty Cooper stormed in the room like wild wind, hair disheveled and horrified expression shading her pretty features, Jughead’s heart starting to pound in his chest at the news but mostly at the fact that he was, well, naked in front of her.

“Betty! I’m not decent!” his shaky voice raised an octave and subconsciously his hands flew to cover his manhood over his boxers, at least thankful that his choice of underwear was plane grey and not his pizza print boxers that he loved but wasn’t exactly supposed to be seen by people. “And obviously you aren’t too.” His words slowly died on his lips once he noticed her full appearance, her pajama shirt still intact but the matching shorts nowhere to be found underneath it, just a _long_ view of legs just for him. His eyes couldn’t help but scan her lower part, Jughead gulping once, twice even three times in difficulty at the sight of her tanned legs and he felt something stir where his hands still laid protectively.

“God! I’m sorry!” the blonde groaned flushing dark red again, doing an one-eighty to face the door and turn her back at him, not helping at all with the boy’s situation since her gorgeous behind was in full display for him, semi covered with her shirt and semi revealing a dark peppermint green lace peaking from under it. Jughead’s head snapped to the left in reflex, feeling a tad of guilt for seeing his long term friend like that and secretly loving it. His eyebrows rose and his lips formed a soundless “oh man”, cause really when did Betty stop being Betty, all-American sweet girl next door, and became that hot woman? All he remembered from their swims at Sweetwater River when they were kids was a chubby little girl with always the brightest choices of swimwear. Now all he could see was female curves that, _damn_ , were a sight to look at for days.

“It’s that I was about to get in the shower but I heard mom’s car rounding the corner, the tires make a hissing sound so I recognize them, and I panicked, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to storm out on you and like that…” Betty kept rambling on, biting her lip nervously, because really today wasn’t the best day for them. Not that she was complaining that he saw him without his buggy dark clothes. It seemed that they did hide a lot of interesting things, Betty thought and blushed even more, biting her lip harder and filling thankful that he couldn’t see her face right now.  

The sound of footsteps jogging up the stairs interrupted any train of her thought, naughty or nice. Betty actually feared for their lives.

“She’s coming up!” she freaked out in a shrieking whisper, running to a terrified Jughead that desperately was trying to find a place to hide while gathering in panic the stuff he had thrown around. “Under the bed, under the bed!” Betty instructed, pushing on his bare shoulders, him easily slouching down and rolling into his hiding spot, the girl kicking with her foot his combat boots under the bed with him too and throwing his jeans with force against his bare chest, Jughead letting an “oomph” of surprise just as the bedroom door opened and an imposing Alice Cooper appeared.

“Mom, hey!” Betty greeted her way too cheerfully and even Jughead raised a disbelieving eyebrow in unison with her mother. “I-I thought you were at the paper.” She moved to the bed as if she was fixing her deranged covers, but only just to be within reaching distance in case her mom came over to inspect her room further, giving Jughead a view of her panties in all their glory, the raven haired boy dropping his jeans to his eyes and squinting them close, praying to God to blind him cause after this image he surely didn’t know if he could go on with his life.

“Yeah, I’m not staying. Just dropped by to take some papers your father forgot.” Alice informed her in her usual cold manner, frowning when noticing that her daughter’s focus wasn’t her but the floor next to her. “Are you alright?”

“Of course, yeah, I am, totally fine!” Betty babbled and Jughead could feel his life ending, one, because of all that he endured that fine morning and two because of the fact that Betty was a terrible liar. “Just getting ready for school.” She tried to sound aloof and grabbed a pair of jeans from her wardrobe, jumping lightly to slide them on her legs. He wasn’t going to admit it but Jughead did pout upon seeing them finally covered.

“Hm.” Alice hummed suspiciously. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it smelled like a boy in here.” He tried to catch her in her lie and the stray boy under the bedframe could have bet money that they were busted.

“B-boy?” Betty chocked on her breath and laughed uneasily. “Mom! Come on! How could I have a boy in my room without you noticing?” Betty scoffed like that was impossible, shaky fingers clumsily pushing up her window for fresh air to fill the room in reflex to her words and Alice seemed to back off, even though she wasn’t entirely sure about her daughter’s mental state.

“Alright.” She shrugged. “Since I am here, I’ll drive you to school.” She offered.

“Mom, no, I’ll walk—” Betty tried to object but her mother bet her to it.

“Betty, put a shirt and take your things. I’ll be in the car.” She left no room for further discussion and left the room, both her daughter and the boy she was hiding letting the breath they were holding.

Jughead popped from under the bed but the girl shushed him, twirling around like a mad woman not wanting to waste any time, because she knew her mom would be storming in her room again if she wasn’t downstairs in seconds.

“There are spare keys inside the second drawer of the dresser next to the front door.” Betty curled her sneakers and her bag to her chest while giving him hushed instructions. “Don’t forget to lock it behind you. I’ll see you at school.” She snatched her jacket and a shirt and walked quickly out of the room to get changed before Jughead heard her hop down the stairs and minutes later Alice Cooper’s car speeding down the road. And just like that he fell back on the floor contemplating life and thinking that getting involved with a girl in any sense was indeed very tiring.

It was an hour later that the Jones boy passed the wide entrance of Riverdale High with headphones intact and loud music blasting through his skull, blocking away the offensive whispering of the people around him about yet again Jason Blossom. He went straight to his locker and started rearranging some of his books, his eyes wandering around and catching a glimpse of her from across the corridor doing the same. As if she knew his baby blues were on her, Betty looked at him and she smiled apologetically to him, mouthing a sorry for the crazy morning they had. He just brushed it off with a shake of his head and gave her his usual smirk, not really managing to stop his eyes from wandering further down to take in her appearance. Amongst all the blue of her jeans and her sweater something plaid red was peaking from her collar and her waist and his eyebrows shot up in shock. On an onlooker it might look like she was spicing up her outfit with some color but to somebody that knew it would look so strange since Betty Cooper didn’t own even a single plaid shirt and that very one was something that Jughead Jones was sporting day after day.

He subtly pointed to his collar praying that he understood her signal but Betty just looked down at her in confusion before looking back up at him and shrugging in a silent “what?”. Some girls from her science class approached her and their eye conversation cut short, Jughead pushing his text books for first period in his bag and closing his locker, before sprinting to the blonde’s side.

Kevin was a tad faster than him. “Hey, Betty, cool shirt. Isn’t it Jughead’s?” he raised an eyebrow looking between the two of them, Betty’s crimson red blush appearing to her cheeks again, now coming to understand her gaffe. Somewhere between her morning humiliation and her hurry so for her mom not to suspect anything more she had ended up picking the wrong shirt, that shirt being Jughead’s.

“Yeah, she was cold so I lent it to her.” The other boy came to her rescue, nodding down at her with a cute side smirk, Betty agreeing with a vigorous shake of her head.

Thankfully the bell ringing didn’t leave any space for more conversation and the three friends started walking towards their chemistry class. And as Kevin was in front of them bubbling happily about his very first official date with Joaquin, Jughead, feeling rather bold after the events of that morning, placed a soft palm at the small of Betty’s back, leaning to whisper next to her hear. “You look good with my shirt on.” He complimented her and saw even her freckles turn a lovely shade of red before offering him her sweetest grin and whispering a shy thank you back. Yes, getting involved with a girl was tiring but in Betty’s case it was all worth it.

* * *

_Where are you? Please just let me know you’re ok. I’m worried about you._

Betty’s trembling thumps typed quickly the message and she pressed ‘send’, the new blue bubble that appeared on her phone screen joining the three other unanswered ones that held a similar content. She waited two seconds and then threw her phone on the duvet next to her with venom, snapping her eyes shut and letting fresh tears run down her already soaked cheeks. She wasn’t crying because she had been yelled at for barely an hour by her dear mother nor because she was grounded for the rest of time.

She was crying because he left and because he probably wouldn’t want to speak to her ever again.

It had been the perfect afternoon. Betty had done amazing in her cheerleading practice, even earning a compliment for the very first time from Cheryl Blossom herself, and once practice was over, Jughead was there waiting out of the school gym, left leg bended by the knee and resting to the wall behind him while he was watching something on his phone, looking dangerously handsome in some black attire, insisting on buying her a triple extra sundae at Pop’s since he now had official employee discount, the old man finally offering the boy the job he desperately needed.

Today it was the first time they hugged. Betty couldn’t really help but jump in his arms with a happy squeal upon hearing the news, because she knew first-hand how hard everything was on him and because his happy smile was the best thing she’d seen in her life and the true highlight of her day. And of course she got to have that sinful sundae – with extra topping, as he requested – the two of them spending hours at Pop’s, just talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company.  

Today was the first time they held hands; like proper hand holding not the usual brush of touch sometimes they happened to have. They were walking back to her house, their chat animated and still going strong, with Betty seeing Jughead for the first time being so optimistic and genuinely trouble-free and loving so much that side of him that wished for everything to come in his life the way he dreamed, because he deserved it, he of all of them. And just as she was busy thinking how happiness suited him and he looked even more handsome under the stars that night, she felt his long slim fingers dance around hers ever so lightly, before finding their place at the space between hers and locking there like they had clicked, like they were designed to fit perfectly with hers and hers only. Betty eased his nerves with a bright welcoming smile and a light squeeze of her palm against his and Jughead exhaled a nervous sigh through his smiley lips, glad that they were taking it one step at a time and she was following his pace.

And today was the day it all came crushing down between them as far as they reached the porch stairs of the Coopers’ residence, the two teens getting ambushed but a ready-to-kill Alice Cooper that turned their lovesick smiles into ice.

After that it was just a mess of screams and insults, Betty’s mom having found the backpack of Jughead’s belongings as she once again went snooping in the girl’s room, shouting at how disappointed she was at Betty and her tendencies of always getting involved with the wrong crowd, addressing Jughead with words like stray and lowlife and delinquent, him just standing there and looking at the ground and Betty crying and screaming back how she hated her and how much of a awful mother she was being. And mist the fire of it all, the raven haired boy that never seemed to have a chance to happiness, had pushed his backpack up his shoulder and walked away, doing what he knew best; disappear.

Hours had passed since then and not a single text of hers about his wellbeing was answered, Betty being locked up in her room and crying her pretty eyes out for the boy that made her heart meant and beat again, even faster than ever before. She had never cried for anything or anyone that much in the past, not even for Archie, having that sinking feeling inside her chest, that burden that left her there breathing with difficulty and sobbing hard with trembles of sorrow running down her spine.

_Didn’t find him anywhere. You want me to tell my dad?_ Her phone chimed and she rushed to read the text, momentarily hopping that it was from him and he was ok, but it was just from Kevin, the poor boy offering to go out looking for Jughead once Betty had called him with hiccups interrupting her sobbing words, asking for his help.

She was about to text him back to do so because at that point she was really worried but her blurry eyes were making this a difficult task, the blonde beauty swiping a hand violently under her eye and trying to gain some control of her messy state. Her mind was spinning with all the possible scenarios, with mostly bad to worse popping up first, and she was so caught up in her thoughts that didn’t even hear her window being opened behind her and the boy she wished to see more than anything else right now climbing inside her room.  

“Is there any room for me?” Betty heard his voice, soft and soothing, and her reflexes where never that quick before in her life, turning around on her bed and gasping a loud relieved sigh that he was there and well before storming in his arms.

“Juggie…” she sobbed against the hard material of his denim jacket, her whole body shaking from the force of her cries and Jughead shushing her and holding her tight.

“Hey, hey, please don’t cry for me…Bets, please, it’s okay…” he kept saying and trying to offer her some comfort, alternating his hands from running up and down her sides and his arms from wrapping securely around her.

“I was so worried about you, I thought something bad happened.” She pulled back to look at him, placing both her palms on his face and examining him closely.

He did the same, taking in her way too puffy eyes, their breathtaking color a tad less bright, and her flushed cheeks, his heart breaking a little at the sight of her, knowing that he was to blame. “I’m fine. I told you I know how to take care of myself.” he assured her, bringing his thump to brush away some tears that still lingered under her eyes.

“I’m so sorry about my mom…” Betty started in a low ashamed voice, knowing that everything her mother had said was out of line and unfair to him. “What she said—”

Jughead cut her off. “Alice Cooper has called me a sleaze at the age of ten; the time I cared about her opinion is long gone.” He replied with a shrug. “No offence.” She just shook her head at his way of still not wanting to insult her or her awful of a mother. “I didn’t leave for what she said to me, I left for you. It’s not fair for you to go through any of this trouble for me.” He confessed with sadness in his eyes, feeling awful that she had to go through hell just because he happened to be in her life.

“And it’s not fair for you to deal with everything on your own.” Betty insisted with such intensity in her eyes that left him with zero comebacks. “Where are your things?” she wondered, looking down around him and taking a step back, the two teens getting untangled from each other. “Don’t tell me you went back to the Blue & Gold.”

Jughead shook his head no, burying his hands inside the pocket of his jeans. “I talked to Archie…” he started and saw the girl across him raise her eyes at that. “That’s why I wasn’t replying to your messages, I’m sorry…” he felt really guilty at that, guilty that made her worry so much for him. “Told him everything, how I lost my home, staying here, what happened with your mom… He was bumped that I didn’t go to him from the beginning but we did that bro thing which we give each other a clean slate and start back again.” He let a small chuckle at this but composed himself immediately, regarding the situation.

Betty smiled, even though she knew this meant he was going to leave her behind just like that. “I’m glad you patched things up with him.” She was, really.

He nodded. “Fred said that I can take their spare bedroom for the time being and Archie and I are planning to rebuild their garage; make it my bedroom and a joined man cave.”

It was Betty’s time to nod, pretending to be ok with all that, but her eyes betrayed her as the waterfalls threatened to spill from them again, the girl looking away and biting her lip to hold back another round of stupid tears.

“Hey, hey, hey…” Jughead rushed to her and enveloped her in his arms again, leaving a butterfly kiss on her temple. “What are you crying for now, huh? I’m here, I’m well and you’ll still gonna see my stupid face every day from some meters away.” He tried to lighten the mood and cheer her up, pulling back to look down at her with a loving smile, his hands dropping to her waist and fingers playing with the hem of the blue and yellow blouse of her cheerleader uniform, Betty still haven’t been bothered to change with all the events that happened tonight. Jughead liked her in that uniform; the tiny skirt was leaving her legs uncovered and he had come to realize that he had a soft spot for them as much as her eyes.

“It’s just” she took a deep breath and brushed her palms over her eyes stubbornly; she was so sick of crying “I liked having you here, you know?” she admitted and Jughead rewarded her with his boyish smirk which immediately pull something in her heart. “Ever since Polly…left” she chose carefully the word “this house had been so damn silent!” her voice broke at that and Jughead frowned in sympathy; he knew that feeling very well. “Those days that you’ve been here, they reminded me of the ones I got to spend with her and it made me feel so much less alone.” Betty sobbed the last part and some mascara filled tears run down her cheeks, making Jughead hold her close again, leaning back to rest against the small wooden bench of her window, letting her water his jacket with salty tears and just rubbing her back, offering hushed promises that everything was going to be ok.

They didn’t know how much time they stayed like that, just holding each other and Betty spilling everything that’s being pilling up inside her, but eventually her cries died and the only sound around them was their even breaths and the crickets chirping away in the night sky.

“Thank you for making me feel less alone.” Betty raised her head from his shoulder to look at him.

“Thank you for making me feel that I wasn’t invisible.” He mused back and caressed her cheek, his thump drawing patterns against her faint freckles, and he saw her eyes shine again, shine with something else that he hadn’t seen before, something so intense that even authors can’t find the right words to describe it.

Jughead heard her take in a sharp breath and it was as if she had commanded him to lean closer, their faces inches away from each other, noses almost bopping. Her long eyelashes fanned against his face, her eyes blinking rapidly in what seemed like anticipation and he felt her melt against him once he titled his head slightly to the side. The raven haired boy felt at a loss, like he didn’t have any control of his mind and body, like everything was on autopilot on his part, not really sure what to do or how to do it but going with his gut and placing his other hand on her waist, making her jump up straight and sigh against his chapped lips. The action caused him to drop his eyes to her own lips, full, pink and always inviting, and he saw her tongue coming out to lick them, Jughead knowing right there that he needed to kiss her, to have even just a small taste, otherwise he would die at that very moment.

“I think I’m gonna kiss you, Betty Cooper.” His lips formed the words almost against her lips and she closed her eyes, angling her head in a delicious way, waiting for him to go on with his promise.

“You better do.” _Or I’ll die_ , she continued in her mind before feeling the slightest of touches against her petal lips, excitement shooting through her system like a drug and having her asking for more by lacing her arms behind his neck.

Jughead felt her mouth part in invitation and her fingers deliver the softest of caresses at the sensitive skin of his neck and he dove in for real this time, kissing her with all the build-up tension he had inside him, bringing her flat against his body by her waist and opening his mouth to savor hers with all he got, both of them sighing in the kiss, pushing, pulling, nibbling, sucking. And when the slightest of moans left her sweet like candy cane and strawberries mouth and vibrated through him whole, Jughead couldn’t help but attack her with new passion, leaning all the way towards her and seeking entrance with his tongue, something that Betty gladly accepted, squealing in delight and tugging at his mess of raven hair to bring him even closer.

“So that’s what a real kiss is like…” the boy murmured inside the kiss awestruck, Betty pulling back lightly to giggle and him following her mouth blindly, not ready yet to escape the sweetest flavor he had ever tasted.

“Not quite bad, huh?” Betty smiled against his lips and pecked them once, twice, three times while caressing up and down his jawline, feeling the happiest girl in the whole wide world.

“Perfect is the only thing that goes with you.” Jughead’s low voice sent a shiver down her spine and she dropped her forehead on his in affection, before their lips met again in the sweetest battle of dominance. 

Jughead Jones and Betty Cooper were finally not hiding anymore.


End file.
